selkie

• silkie

From Scots selkie fowk (“seal folk”).

selkie (plural selkies)

1. (Celtic mythology) A seal which can magically transform into a human by shedding its skin.
2. (Scotland, Shetland) A common, harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), or grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).

• Lieske

• saelkie, seilkie, sejlki, selchie, selky, shelky, silkey, silkie, sulky, sylkie

selch +‎ -ie

selkie (plural selkies)

1. diminutive of selch (common, harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), or grey seal (Halichoerus grypus))

• selkie-wife (“female selkie, mermaid”, literally “female seal”)
• selkie folk (“selkie”, literally “seal people”)
• silkie man (“male selkie”, literally “male seal”)

• → English: selkie

• “selkie” under “selch, n., v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 12 June 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
• Thos. Edmondston, F.R.S.L., F.A.S.L. (1866) “selkie”, in An Etymological Glossary of the Shetland & Orkney Dialect, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, page 99